No Two Snow Flakes Alike.

The picture does not tell the story. I was back country skiing this weekend in the snow . No kidding, in the snow. This picture was taken on my way home. I was actually skiing up where you see the snow socking in the trees. In fact, it was snowing so hard, my tracks skiing in were completely covered up on my way out. When I got back to my car, I thought, the "Gold Rocket" will have to work double time just to make it to the paved road.

 I helped a 4 wheel drive Ford, get unstuck. I traded places with the driver and got them free and onto the road. God, I love it when it's snowing. Saturday was my 7th consecutive and final day of grueling work outs. I celebrated when I finally got home with an ice cold Coors and a soak in the hot tub.

As I kicked back in the tub, I turned the jets off, laid back and closed my eyes. I felt the big snow flakes hit my face and it unlocked a window in my mind. Much like blind people can equate a sound with color, my own brain drew a correlation between mulitple, unrelated experiences. An ah ha moment. 

As a youngster, I had the opportunity to see, both the Russian and the Israili Ballet. Both quite beautiful and each intentionally different. The male dancers from the Russian ballet were almost hypnotic. More than once, I found myself in a light trance, wondering, "where have the minutes had gone". Oh how they lored me in. The ballerinas in the Israili troop floated effortlessly across the floor. I remember standing in the wings watching their feet as they gracefully walked to their mark in preparation for their dance to begin. Fixated on their precious white feet,I thought they touched the ground with the grace of a snow flake. I verified that feeling on Saturday as if somehow summoning the totaly random experiences together for one single command performance. I relived those moments in an instance. With the gentle kiss of each soft snow flake, I lept back in time. My smile matched that of my younger self, years before I could ever know the happiness packed into a single flake and mulitplied by bazillions. That, in itself, made me contemplate, "where have the years gone?"

Lean Manufacturing

I have spent the past month focusing on lean manufacturing at my work place. Part of my struggle has been spent, pleading the fact that I get it. In fact, my catch phrase has been, "it really ain't that hard. I've had some help along the way. Some top quality help that has given me direction toward working smarter, not harder. I can't help but hear R.E.M. sing their hit, Great Beyond. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J9YAFf-xqs
Let me see if I can give you an example....................................................................
     You have a pod of killer whales, Orcas if you please, swimming in the ocean. Over there (you gotta use your imagination here) is a GIANT school of small fish. Take a minute to invision how the giant whales go about eating the small fish. In your mind, how confident are you that you have it figured out? You don't need to be a marine biologist or even have to spend any time on the Calipso to know, your certain you know how the giants gobble up all those little fish. It ain't that hard! What if I told you you were wrong? Unless you are willing to bet everything you own on how they do it, you are wrong. To quote my man Jules Whitfield, "it breaks down like this....."
     The Killers locate the school of small fish using a form of sonar. They emit clicks and hums to verify their location. Then, the whales begin to speak to each other and put their plan into action. They corral the schools into a tight formation. At that moment, when the school is packed together tightly, the whales emit a loud, high pitched schrill. It hits the bladders of the small fish and confuses their equalibrium momentarily. In that state of confusion, the fish pack even more tightly together. (Yes like sardines) The whales quickly approach the school and with the fury of Thores hammer they pound their tail, creating a shock wave, equal to the concussion of a grenade. It renders the small fish totally imobile and the hugh sea mammels turn gently, and casually feast on the small fish like punters munching on pretzels at the Owl Tavern. That my friend is lean. No wasted movement and adding value every step of the way.
     How did you do? How would Hooper have faired? How about the Chief? Quint? If you know your Jaws, you know that if your on the boat, Quints right. If your on land, it Chief Browdys call. In the ocean it's Hooper all the way. The moral here? It always pays to know where you stand.
     The Beastie Boys say, "you got to fight for your right". In Josey Wales. Lone Watie says," endevour to perservere".  On my cedar turkey box call are three simple words, patience, persistance and perserverance.
Pick your battles.............smarter, not harder.

All the Pretty Horses

    

I watched the movie, All the Pretty Horses, last evening. It's a movie based on the novel by the same name. It's directed by Billy Bob Thorton. He did a spectacular job with this movie. It stars Matt Damon and Penelope Cruz. I'm not a big Matt Dillan fan, however, he got the most out of his character. As cowboy movies go, this one  takes place outside of the box. It doesn't have a story book ending, like the popular Hollywood garbage, but that seems to be a theme with Mirmax Productions. If you are an "old school" western buff, there is a surprize visit from Bruce Dern. Ah, the memories I have of all the times I used Acea Watts as my alias.
     The movie is powerful, and I struggled with what the actual message was they wanted to get across. It's a strong, hard look into the soul of a young man. You could change or rearrange the setting, and it would more than likely get played out in the same fashion. Whether a man tries to be how he wants to be or tries to be how someone else wants him to be, in the end, he is what he is.

     My take away from the movie comes from Charles Swindolls book Come Before Winter.
"Pain plants the flag of reality in the fortress of a rebel heart".
Watch the movie!

A Bitter Pill to Swallow

    

Have you ever been asked or told to do something you didn't want to do? This past week I have found myself in that predicament. Bitter pills come in all shapes and sizes. Like some of the more common infomercials, the side affects can be worse than the reason you had to take the pill in the first place. Sometimes the pill leaves a taste in your mouth you can or can't get rid of and sometimes it changes your life permanently. Sometimes you need to reflect, pause and realize it ain't about a thing.
     I remember the last time I was with Dennis F Harley, SMC U.S.Navy; we were on Fort Story Army Base in Virginia. Dennis was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and dieing. I saw one of the toughest men I have ever known, standing before me in his last days. Dennis had cooked a big pot of chili. He pulled me off to the side and had me go and buy a bottle of Tabasco sauce and a case of Budweiser. He could barely eat at all and definitely not spicy food. He couldn't drink beer either. I don't remember ever seeing Dennis without a beer in his hand, let alone ever seen him eat anything without loads of pepper or hot sauce. He asked me to eat it and drink for him. It's the kind of thing you don't ask a stranger to do. Not being much of a hot sauce guy, I poured it on. As for drinking beer, yeah I loved my beer, but the ice cold beers on any other day would have been prized, each one tasting better than the last. Pregnant women that joke about eating for two, miss this feeling by a mile. The beer suddenly tasted different and the hot chili never sat well, but the whole time, I was eating and drinking for two. Disputably a bitter sweet pill, but bitter none the less. Snapping the top of a can of Bud or picking up a bottle of Tabasco has never gone back to what it was.
     I did the same for a former Marine pal of mine, Godfrey. Godfrey was dying of a failed liver and oh how I remember sitting on his porch drinking Old Milwaukee for him. I had a family waiting at home for me and he asked me to drink one more. Suddenly, drinking for 2 takes on a whole different look. Bitter? Yes, but duty calls.
     Some pills seem larger. In 1989, a special forces band rolled toward Patilla airfield in Panama City.The U.S. was hunting Noriega and the team was tasked with disabling his personal jet and keeping him from escaping. What was supposed to be a slam dunk, ended up being the worst debacle in the history of special forces. Imagine getting intelligence days before the invasion and approaching your commanders with specific intelligence indicating the hanger was guarded not by armature security guards but by highly trained troops. Imagine commanders rejecting the need for a redesigned plan. The plan was already approved at the highest level. Can you imagine being told to move ahead and get 'er done? The bitter taste of that pill could never go away.
     Perspective is a tool you need to keep close at hand. If you live long enough and pay attention,it's a tool you will get to use over and over. Sometime the best thing about a bad thing is that your new bad thing really ain't that bad. Remember that somewhere someone is probably getting a bigger, badder, bitter pill than you. Pick your battles and take your medicine. Perspective.

Goose Creek II

Early in the morning.

So nice I had to ski it twice. I went back today. It was not as cold (my water did not freeze). This is a terriffic view of the Bridgers.

The sun came out in the afternoon. I forgot my sun block.

I like this shot. You get a cool look into Paradise Valley, you can see Chimney Rock and you can see where the Fridley fire was.

Back Country Skiing

Saturday morning found me back out in the hot tub at 4:00a.m.. I was excited to get rolling and took the time to get warmed up for my back country ski trip. It was 3 degrees out and I was waiting for the sun to break. I headed up to Goose Creek trail head with my pal Jeremiah. We took separate vehicles because, although we planned to start off skiing together, we had different destinations calling us.

     After getting a new foot of snow, it just goes to show you the early bird gets the fresh powder trail as well. We set out onto the logging trail for a few miles. As I skied along in the virgin powder, I couldn't help but be mesmerized by the tips of my skis gliding and barely porpoising, like an otter, sailing just under the river surface on the heels of a trout.  So cool!
     After trudging in a few miles we headed, off the road and up a side trail to Chestnut Mountain.

     We made a fire, ate some chow, listened to some Dropkick Murphy's. A frozen man cave. After lunch we parted ways and enjoyed what the day had in store for us. By the end of the afternoon, the sun began to break as I headed for home.

The Education of Little Tree

     I just finished reading a great book. It's a book about a big world and yet very small at the same time. The book was the first of it's kind. It was a book that spoke to my heart. The closest I have ever heard this language was My Uncle Lyman. He was the one in the family keeping alive our Cherokee heritage. When I was in 5th grade, he made me my first pair of moccasins. They had the sign of the harvest moon on them and I promptly wore them off my feet. Other than that, nobody ever taught me to love the outdoors with all my heart and soul; somehow I was born with it inside of me.
     The book is about a boy, orphaned at the age of 6. He gets adopted by his Cherokee grandmother and half-Cherokee grandfather in the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee. He learns life lessons YOU should only dream of. The book was written so well, I actually traded places with Little Tree by the end of the book. If you read it, and it hammers your heart, you'll know what I mean. I plan to get a few copies of the book and give them out as cherished gifts.  
With only 4 chapters left in the book, I decided to start the night off with a soak in the hot tub, star gazing. I wasn't out 30 minutes when I saw the biggest and most spectacular meteoroid, smash into the earth's atmosphere. It hit hard and exploded with bronze fire works as it tried ti sear it's way to earth. As if fighting for it's very survival, it continued to burrow with all it's mite as the sparks erupted and encircled it as though it wore a glittering crown of fire. I decided to get out of the tub as the sheer spectacle could never be topped, at least not tonight. As I curled up on the couch to read, the North star was framed up by my front window and the full moon popped up over the mountains out the other. A great finish, a crescendo, if you will.
     The book was a gift from my mother. She had received it in the mail from a close mutual friend of ours. He had purchased it as a Christmas present of another friend Bart Berry (Maj.-ret) U.S.Army. I met Bart when I was much younger. He was Military Chaplin in the Army, serving from 1966 to 1992. During his 26 year career with the United States Army, he was the recipient of numerous medals and commendations for his service including the Bronze Star with one oak leaf cluster, Meritorious Service medal with one oak leaf cluster, Army Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with three stars and the Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation.

     Bart died Oct. 11, 2011. He never got the book. The last time I saw Bart, he gave me one of his prized possessions, meerly because I said I liked it. Bart was one of those people that has contributed to my saying, never underestimate your ability to influence someone. You don't always get to pick who, where or when.

     In the book, Little Tree's grandpa explains what "I kin ye" means. He says it's sort of like, "I love you", but more like "I understand you". He says if you don't understand someone, you can't love them.
  

Keep your thumb on the eject button!

   
The short film, "The German", is a masterpiece!. It's about 5 minutes long. It has absolutely astonishing effects and if you have good speakers, let 'er rip! Within the first 15 seconds, you are engaged, LITERALLY. In the span of 5 minutes, you will succumb to multiple emotions. Played out before you will be Heroism at it's apex, determination, tunnel vision (debatable, to a fault), rage, tenacity, mercy,fear and disbelief  . You will see the purest example of a man, so totally in his environment one minute and further than way out of it the next.

http://player.vimeo.com/video/31202906?autoplay=1

If you enjoy watching this video by the seat of your pants, I would suggest watching the documentary, Speed and Angels.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=953248532858975298#

 It's better than the movie TOP GUN, by far. 

Please comment after you watch it.

Cowboy Cool

I just finished the book, The Breaking of Ezra Riley, by John L Moore. John is a rancher in Miles City,Montana. When he writes a book about cowboys, it's pure poetry. John may be the best at capturing the essence of life as a real cowboy. In the course of the book, he dropped every cow poke cliche, as gentle and subtle as a falling snow flake. If you blinked, you missed it. After you catch on, you begin to pick them up like wild morels, and just when you get all settled in, he hits you right in the face with honest fervor, like a hot iron on a wild eyed calf. If you're good at figuring out the "who done its" before the chapter is even over, you best hunker down and pull up on yer bull rope, you got no idea what your in for. Wanna peek into what it's really like, horseback in Montana, pick up a copy, but don't put your boots up on the coffee table while you are reading it, your spurs will end up scratching the tar nations out of it. Captivating!

A Fighting Chance

   
 I watched a documentary this weekend. It was a story of a guy pursuing his dream. It wasn't a pipe dream or a day dream; it wasn't the kind of dream you can't wake up from. It's a movie about a guy following a dream he has, deep in his heart. He is the author of  a book called Kyle Maynard No Excuses.
     Most of us have dreams. Most of us see some of them out. Some of us have dreams we will never see come to fruition. More often than not, the biggest excuse for not following our dreams is the lack of time. I GOT NO TIME! I hear that all the time. The truth is, we all have the same amount of minutes in a day. If you put more time into your excuses than you do pursuing your dreams, you choose failure by default.  What if you had time, then what? Would you pursue your dream? I have a fun saying; "Don't pray for a pony". The reason being, you just might get a pony. If you do, it ain't gonna be the size or color you want. It may not show up where you want or when you want. What if it's a blind pony? Or a mean pony? You're way better off praying for the wisdom to pursue your dream of having a pony. I once prayed for patience so I would not loose my temper. What I got was ENDLESS opportunities to practice my patience.
     Make some time to watch the movie and when it's over, share your plan with someone, about what you are doing to follow your heart and capture your dream. You have no excuses.

http://fightingchancemovie.com/

Cat vs Griz

Got to try out my new camera at the Cat vs Griz game at the Montana State Field house. Cat fans went home disappointed. Griz fans, of course, were happy. Someone needs to practice fouls shots and it's not me.